[WIP] Punk Pilot

JArmstrongcreative

PunkPilot Process


Entry 1: 4/27/2023
Initial blockout coming along. She's only missing her goggles and some wires/cyberpunk-ish ornamentation. I still might lengthen the jacket or change it completely. Thanks for viewing!





Entry 2: 5/06/2023

Took some feedback and this is basically the final blockout before heading over to Marvelous Designer. I plan on adding a few things later on such as wiring, buttons, etc. 

akiratang

Looks like a good start. I would say the hood at the back looks abit flat and should protrude abit more, the pants look abit too tight. 

JArmstrongcreative

Thanks! I appreciate that.

Definitely agree on the pants. I'll add some more defined wrinkles and a few dam standard folds.

 I should've included a side view. The hood isn't as flat as it appears here, but on second look I agree that it could be extruded a bit more. 

JArmstrongcreative

Hair is still a little too placeholder and will be next to be fleshed out. I do plan to simulate her hair. 

It's been a minute since I've commented but I've made good progress on the sculpt. I'm working from my own concept (for whatever reason) and I'm stuck in the design stage of being concerned I'm adding too much or wondering if it needs more. Do you guys have any feedback or ideas/recommendations for the design? Is it good where it's at? The goal is to make it a pilot in a near-future environment. Her jacket will be grungy and maybe denim with painted designs. I plan to also give her tattoos but regarding the texturing that's about as far as I've gotten.

Hair is still a little too placeholder and will be next to be fleshed out. I do plan to simulate her hair. 

Thanks for viewing!

Fabi_G

Hi! I quite like the overall design and look forward to see updates! Could do some overpaints/collage on top of renders to further define the design. Regarding references, could search for a look-alike of for the character and for the clothing specific models. Another thing I would check is the proportions, legs seem long in comparison to the rest of the body.

Keep it up!

JArmstrongcreative

Thanks a ton for the feedback Fabi! Here's an updated high poly sculpt!
The goggles still need a ton of work but the gas mask is getting there. The hair is a placeholder for later stages but I love that hairstyle. 

pxgeek

This is shaping up nicely!

Are her pants still blockout? The folds around the crotch and the seat feel unnatural.

JArmstrongcreative

Thank you!! And actually, not at this point no.. when I brought them in from Marvelous they were a little tighter than I’d liked so I thought I’d artificially throw in some wrinkles I liked. Mistake, apparently! Haha. 

I’ll probably just go back into marvelous, crank the waft/weft and reimport them. Thank you for your feedback and observation!

JArmstrongcreative

Hey guys, attached are a couple of the last renders before I plan on retopo followed by taking her into Substance Painter to properly texture. First one is just a look at her without her gas mask. Second one is a quick look at the final sculpt. Overall I think she's in a good place to start working on texturing. A lot of her life and attitude will be brought out in the texturing stage I think. 

The more I look, the more I prefer her without her mask. Maybe I can find a way to have it easily detachable. What do you guys think? Any cool ideas for the texturing stage?

JArmstrongcreative

Update!

Since my last post, I've worked out most of the textures and am continuing forward. I have to texture the eyes, add hair, and maybe some more roughness in areas on the sculpt? Maybe some spray paint on the jacket / grungy stuff. 

Any feedback on this before I push the last 10%? I've been staring at it for a couple months and am open to any suggestion regarding the design or technical work. Thanks so much for the help and thanks for viewing.

Fabi_G

Hey! Cool to see an update! More, higher quality images would be nice, like close up of the face.
Is the goal a sculpt or a real-time character? In what software do you plan to render?

Overall I think things could be more detailed. For example the hoody doesn't have a zipper or closing mechanism, or visible seams. Some shape look blobby/bit undefined, like the gloves or the leg strap. The textures currently look a bit uniform, no wear or accidents. For the face, you could look into transferring details from scanned data. Consider using existing shaders from Unreal sample projects (assuming you're using UE) for skin, eyes and hair to cut that technical portion out.

If the project becomes too complex, you could split it up to focus on specific parts. I think it's important to not stretch yourself too thin and keep focus. Organizing in different ways can help that it's fun and digestible. I imagine you're learning new things as you go, like making hair, and one needs time for that. Ideally you reach in-between goals you can put in your portfolio too. If you run out of time/energy, you can rescope more easily. Here are possible sub tasks:



Keep it up!

JArmstrongcreative

Thank you for the feedback, Fabi. It's very much appreciated! Here is a closeup of the face and eyes. I'd like it to be a real time character. Or some semblance of one. Some slight stylization is fine with me! I'd also like to rig it and make a simple idle animation for her.
(also aware the eyes still need work)

JArmstrongcreative

Made good progress on the upper third of the project. Fleshed out a lot of the textures and figured out her hair. 

sannePaus

Love the progress!! Every time it surprises me how much difference eyelashes and brows can make! How did you manage the hair? Is it hair cards?

JArmstrongcreative

Thank you so much! I appreciate that @sannePaus !

Oh yeah I completely agree. We see so many faces every day and seeing one without brows or lashes is definitely jarring xD. It's crazy how much a small change like that can affect the quality of a piece. 

 I used geometry nodes for the hair! Which of course makes them super heavy but that's something I'll work out down the road. I love the hairstyle and am going to do my absolute best to maintain it throughout lowering the poly count. If I have to make cards, I will. But we'll cross that road when we get there. I'm learning a lot of the process as I go. 

JArmstrongcreative

Here's a render with a bit of quick compositing (new/kinda suck at optimizing renders for presentation). I'm close to wrapping this one up for now. I've learned a ton and still see some flaws that I can and will improve upon going forward.